Winter's Storm
by Cait Carstairs
Summary: Story is set in the Shadowhunters universe featuring original characters and an original storyline. It has been three years since the Cold Peace was signed. Those who live in the small Institute in the Canadian mountains were torn away from the halfing fae race they grew up with. Now supernatural murders are occurring that lead straight to the halflings and decisions must be made.
1. I

**AN:** Hey guys! I know this story isn't your typical story for , but I'd really appreciate you giving it a read! (It's on wattpad too if you'd prefer to read it there: 326153701-winter%27s-kiss-i ) I really love the Shadowhunter universe and I thought it'd be really interesting to see more stories in that universe. I hope you enjoy :)

"I really think you need to lighten up a little." Reagan said as she continued to crawl through the air duct on her hands and knees.

"I really feel as though this is not an appropriate time for me to lighten up." Her partner in crime and parabati, Dyani responded in a violent whisper. "You better know what you're doing or I swear to god I'll-"  
"You'll what?" Reagan rolled her eyes. She knew the other girl couldn't see the eye roll, but she still felt it was necessary.

"I'll- I'll do something bad."

Reagan began to chuckle at the idle threat when she was shushed;

"Shut up!" Dyani hit her on the shoulder.

"What?" Reagan maneuvered her body around in the small space so that she was facing the girl behind her.

"Shh." Dyani put her finger to her lips before nodding towards the bottom of the air duct. Reagan knit her brows together as her ears strained to hear what was going on below. There wasn't much to hear. She was surprised that Dyani had even been able to pick up on the soft sound of footsteps in the room below them. Reagan pressed herself to her stomach and squinted through the small ventilation cracks in the air duct. Through the small space, she picked out a teenage girl sitting behind the customer service desk. The girl had earphones plugged into a computer. She was tapping her foot along to the music and it could be heard echoing through the empty room.

"What exactly are we waiting for?" Dyani asked as she let her hand hover over her Seraph blade.

Reagan searched the room. There was something wrong. A young werewolf had tipped her off. He'd said that she needed to be protected, but as Reagan watched the girl she seemed to be alone.

"What's wrong?"

"It's much past midnight and it's a full moon tonight." She thought aloud.

"Wolves?" The word had hardly had time to leave her mouth before the window to the observatory was broken. Reagan didn't have to think before bursting out of the air duct and into the guest services room. She landed and rolled in front of the desk as the wolf made contact with the display cases under the window. She felt Dyani land softly on her feet in the center of the room behind her. The wolf got up and shook the glass from its fur. A snarl bellowed from beneath its curled lips. The girl froze. Reagan silently cursed her. If only everyone had the instincts of a warrior. It would make her job so much easier. Reagan didn't have to talk to Dyani. She knew what she'd do next and without thinking adapted to it. Dyani darted around the desk toward the wolf as Reagan flung herself over the desk and onto the girl. They fell to the ground with Reagan hovering atop her. The girl's mouth hung open in shock. To her, some unseen force was protecting her. Reagan made a silent prayer that her glamor wouldn't wear off anytime soon and quickly shoved her under the desk before turned her attention toward Dyani. She'd gotten the wolf into the back corner of the room. It snapped at the glowing blade held between them but didn't dare to touch it.

"Get the closet!" Dyani shouted. Reagan turned and sprinted across the room. She tore open the closet just as Dyani sheathed her blade and ran towards her with the wolf on her heels. Just before the closet, Reagan watched the wolf's teeth become dangerously close to her parabati. She did the only thing she thought possible: protect her. Before she could register what she was doing the dagger was already spinning through the air. Dyani ducked. The blade buried itself in the wolf's shoulder. It crumpled with a dog-like whimper and slid across the tile floor away from its prey.

"Get it in the closet now!" Dyani shouted as she rose to her feet. Reagan made it to the wolf just as it began to rise. Its leg where the dagger still lay jammed in it could hardly bear any weight. The wolf stumbled and fell once more as it attempted to stand. She snatched her blade back and held it in front of the wolf. It growled in defiance but still it backed up just enough for Dyani to close the closet doors on it. Reagan threw her body against the door. The wolf pounded on it from the other side with its claws almost penetrating the thin wood of the door. Dyani took the fire stoker from the fireplace and shoved it between the door and where the now broken lock should have been. It seemed to hold for the moment but Reagan wouldn't dare lift her weight from the door. The girl from behind the desk stood up. She saw that the wolf was now contained in the closet. Shock, awe, and maybe a little disbelief, or a lot of disbelief, crossed her face all at once. She did not know that Reagan and Dyani had rescued her today. She couldn't see them holding the wolf at bay for they'd both glamoured themselves before entering the observatory's air ducts. All she knew was that the wolf was somehow trapped and she was miraculously not dead. She scrambled out of the building without turning back to lock the door.

Dawn came and the wolf stopped pounding on the door. It had let up around two o'clock in the morning only to start again even more furiously as the sun began to rise. Now that the sun's orange glow bathed the room all of its attempts had stopped. Dyani looked at over at Reagan before sliding to the ground, exhaustion finally taking its toll. Her gear was stained with sweat and her dark hair was falling in chunks out of her braid. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

"How'd you know a werewolf was going to attack her?"

Reagan fell to the floor as well and responded with, "He told me he would."

Dyani sighed and smiled at her parabati. Reagan knew it was a congratulatory smile and a smile that apologized for the bickering in the air duct at the beginning of the night. Dyani was genuinely proud of Reagan for taking such precautions and being here just in case anything happened. It would've been horrible if they weren't here. Dyani knocked on the closet door as she pulled the makeshift lock open. A deep groan was the only response she got, but it was a human groan so she proceeded to open the door. Curled up in the back corner was a boy. He was no older than herself and he was stark naked. She averted her eyes and tossed a towel towards him from the shelves at the side of the closet before looking back. He wrapped it tightly around his body yet continued to shiver. His light hair was damp and the wound from the blade still letting blood run down his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Dyani asked as Reagan entered the room with some bandage from the emergency first aid kit she found under the desk. She tossed it to Dyani who immediately started to take care of his wounds.

"Randy Melville." He stuttered through clamoring teeth. He was obviously still in shock.

"Is this your first time?"

He nodded slowly.

"Call Lucy. Tell her to come pick him up." Dyani told Reagan. Reagan nodded and stepped out of the closest to call Lucy. She'd had the head of the werewolf clan in her contacts for nearly four years now. It came in handy more than its fair share of times.

"How'd you know you'd come here when you turned?" Dyani asked Randy, a motherly softness found in her words.

"Lucy told me I'd go somewhere I felt most comfortable in." He told her, "So, of course, I ended up going here to see my sister."

"Why were you not locked up last night?"

"Lucy tried to. But I'm claustrophobic so I kind of freaked out and let myself out right before I turned. It was an accident I swear! I didn't know this would happen."

"I know." Dyani smiled lightly, "It's a good thing you called us. You did the right thing."

"Lucy is on her way." Reagan stepped back into the closet.

"Is my sister okay?" He asked, the worry clearly echoing in his voice.

Dyani nodded, "She's okay. Scared, but okay."

"You're lucky Dyani decided to come with me." Reagan scoffed, "If she wasn't here you would've gotten more than just a dagger mark."

Randy's face twisted into a fearful expression at this remark and Dyani turned to her parabati with a judgmental look. Reagan raised her eyebrows as to say ' _What? It's true.'_ Dyani rolled her eyes just as a truck was heard pulling into the parking lot.

They didn't stick around for the werewolf lecture. Randy was Lucy's problem now. By the time they got back to the institute it was just after ten, and their home was basked in the early morning sunshine of late autumn. The institute stood as any lumberjack's wet dream. It was five stories of sturdy rock and log with a large chimney and a stable off to the right. It sat like a castle against the backdrop of the stunning Canadian Rockies and the dense forest surrounding it on all four sides. The only way to the driveway was a single dirt road that weaved its way up the sloping countryside. Despite being so secluded it was never lonely as one might think such a home would be. Not only was there many people always home to greet you on arrival, but the road was deceiving. It looked long and tiresome but in reality, it only took ten minutes (on a good day) to get into town. Reagan pushed the heavy door open to be greeted by a sudden wave of noise, delicious smells and two giant dogs barreling down the hall from the kitchen. She greeted both dogs with a kiss on the nose and a quick pat before scampering away to the kitchen. Both dogs followed gleefully at her heels. They were both large; the older one, Enyeto, was covered in brown curly fur that could be found all over the house, and the younger one, Tiny, was even bigger than the older. He wasn't supposed to be that big but no one seemed to mind. He was white with flecks of gray, the same coloring as a wolf, and a ball of endless energy. Reagan followed the scent of waffles to the kitchen where Wesley was busy serving the rest of the institute. He flashed her a prize-winning smile as he flipped a waffle onto, the youngest of Dyani's siblings, Luca's plate. Dyani had four siblings and they were all younger than her. The Ravenshades had become just as much family as her own brother and parents were to her, maybe even more so. Dyani was the oldest and her parabati. She was tall and fit with dark eyes and tan skin: a startling image of her mother. Braeden was the second oldest. He was three years younger than Dyani and looked more like her father with his fairer skin and lopsided grin. Born hardly a year after him was Adsila. Living up to the name she had pink feathers strewn through her caramel hair. Tahlia was next to be born. She was rounder than the rest of the children but the family resemblance was still uncanny, as she had short dark hair and the same piercing eyes. The youngest was Luca. He was born just seven years ago. He had a head full of curls and the same face as Dyani. These people were Reagan's extended family in a way. Her parabati's sisters were her sisters and her brothers were also her brothers as well. Reagan did have a sibling of her own. She had a twin. His name was Connor. They shared a lot of features; they had the same large green eyes, pale complexion, sloping features and golden brown locks. Connor was shouting something at Wesley who threw a fork at him in response. It bounced off him and hit the ground. Tiny grabbed it and ran down the hall with it in his mouth. Luca, leaving half a waffle uneaten chased after the dog.

"Hey, Reagan!" Wesley called, "Want a waffle?"

"Of course I do!" She responded.  
"Then come get it." He had already gotten one prepared for her and had it waiting on the counter. She snatched it and thanked him. How could Reagan describe Wesley? First off, Wesley was on placement at their institute. He'd been here for just over a year. He was one of the best Shadowhunters Reagan had ever seen. Why he wasn't at a more dignified institute was beyond her knowledge and she never dared to ask. His past was mostly shrouded in mystery. All she knew was that he was born in Italy and had been going to many different placements ever since he was sixteen. Besides, she didn't really care why he was here. She was just glad that he was. She glanced back at him as he thanked Luca for getting the fork back from Tiny. Wesley certainly wasn't hard to look at either. He was tall and muscular with definition in all the right places and a smile that could make even the biggest hardass return one. His olive skin carried a healthy tan, unlike her brother who just burned, and his brown hair had sun-bleached streaks from being out in the sun all summer.

"Where's Dyani?" Tahlia pulled her from Wesley.

"She's in the shower." Regan responded.

"She's going to miss waffles!"

She chuckled, "I don't think she cares." Dyani wasn't a big fan of waffles. She knew she'd make an omelet later in the morning.

"What'd you guys do this morning?" Braeden asked.  
"Had to deal with some werewolves. No big deal."

"I told you." Braeden turned to Adsila and held out his hand.

"Fine." She didn't sound impressed as she fished a five-dollar bill out of her pocket and placed it in his hand. He grinned and shoved it into his pocket.  
"What did we say about betting guys!" Reagan exclaimed.

Adsila quietly said, "Sorry."

"You mean what did Dyani say." Braeden rolled his eyes before darting from the table.

"Put your plate away!" Reagan yelled after him but he was already up the stairs.

"I can get it." His sister offered.

She shook her head, "It's alright. I've got it."

"Thanks." She smiled back before she too headed upstairs.

"That goes for the rest of you." Reagan stood up and began collecting plates. Connor shoved his plate towards her and she said, "Oh, but not yours."

"C'mon!" He chuckled.

"How about you keep your plate so that I have someone to eat with." Wesley swung himself into the seat across from Connor. He always seemed to eat last. That's what happens when you are the cook.

"Where'd Luca go?" Connor asked after scanning the room for the young boy.

"I don't know." Wesley shrugged, "He went off chasing Tiny last time I saw him."

"Hey Tahlia, go find your brother and make him wash his hands." Reagan told the only person under seventeen remaining. She knew Luca would still be covered in syrup. He was not a neat eater, especially when it came to waffles.

"Why me?" Tahlia complained.

"Because I asked you to."  
"I don't have to listen to you."

"You go find Luca or I could give you a big hug." Reagan stood up and approached her with open arms, "And I was out fighting and haven't showered yet."

"Ew gross." Tahlia stood up and left. She was in her makeup and fancy outfit stage.

"How'd it go?" Connor asked once Tahlia had left.

"It was nothing really." Reagan explained, "Some werewolf was afraid he'd attack his sister during his first turning. He was right but we were there so nothing happened. Lucy came and picked him up in the morning."  
"You glamoured yourself right?"

"Yeah. I'm not stupid Connor!"

"Well sometimes-"  
"All the mundane knows is that she didn't get ripped apart by a wolf."

"Who's the new wolf?" Wesley inquired as she shoved large bites of waffle into his mouth.

"Some guy named Randy." She shrugged.

"Melville?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"He works at the visitors center." The twins looked at him quizzically so he explained, "What? I went there a lot when I first got here. He's a cool guy."

"Do you think he'll make a good wolf?" Connor asked.

"Is there really any way to tell?"

"Where are Patrick and Chenoa?" Reagan just realized she hadn't seen them all morning. Which was odd as they were the only acting parents at the institute currently. Of course, they trusted Wesley and Connor to be in charge of the other children. Reagan never doubted that, but she also knew that they both loved to be amongst the morning bustle of their family.

"They're at the store." Dyani answered as she walked into the kitchen. "You'd know that if you listened during dinner every once and a while." She sauntered into the kitchen wearing a loose tee and a pair of leggings while she continued to tie her wet hair into a loose braid.

"Morning lovely." Wesley grinned at her from his seat.

She ruffled his hair as she walked by, "What a beautiful face to wake up to."

"It's the Photoshop."

Dyani let out a giggle before opening the kitchen to pull out some eggs, just as Reagan had thought.

The four older children continued to chat as Dyani made her omelet. Reagan caught the boys up on the case. Connor was worried about the lack of control over the wolves but Reagan reassured him that Lucy would be on higher alert from now on. Connor told her he'd gotten a letter from their parents. They were supposed to be home by November 14, but they'd been held up at the Clave and now needed to stay well into December. They didn't mention anything about missing their birthday. Both Reagan and Connor pretended not to notice and Dyani and Wesley didn't mention it.

"Hey, what do you all think about a Halloween party this year?" Wesley changed the subject.

"We're Shadowhunters, we don't really celebrate Halloween." Dyani shrugged between bites of omelet.

"I know. I just think it would be kind of fun."  
"What's this all about, Wes?" Connor asked gently.

"It's the kids. They've been asking me about it. You know how they are. Hocus Pocus and Halloween Town have been on TV recently and they think it might be fun. It's not really fair that we always get to go to downworlder Halloween parties while they stay home."  
"I guess that's true." Dyani agreed.

"So you'd rather hang out with the kids than go to a party?" Reagan asked, only the slightest hint disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah." He replied, "Braeden is fifteen now and Adsila is fourteen. They're not stupid. They want to come to the parties."

"I mean we were going to those parties at their age." Connor remarked hesitantly.

"No." Dyani did not budge, "We went under much different circumstances. And I don't think they are a valuable use of our time anyhow."

Reagan's breath caught when she heard the harsh words come from her parabati's mouth. Dyani hadn't gone to a party with the rest of them for three years. Ever since the Cold Peace she hadn't had the will to go. There was no longer anyone for her to look forward to seeing. Going to the parties only brought back memories of those she reminded herself to forget about daily.  
"Nevertheless, I believe that a little dress up and trick or treating would be good for the kids. For all of us." Wesley pushed.

"Tahlia is in her dress up stage." Reagan agreed hesitantly, "And Luca would love to go out with you." She turned to Dyani, "What do you think."

Dyani stayed quiet in thought for a minute as the others awaited her response, "Fine." She sighed, "Only if mom and dad agree."

"Yes!" Wesley cheered.

Connor smiled wide at his enthusiasm and Reagan glanced worriedly at her parabati whose smile had fallen.

Reagan had gone to shower shortly after Chenoa and Patrick had arrived home. They'd gotten home just after dinner. Turned out Chenoa was looking to redo the upstairs master bedroom's washroom so they'd spent much of the day at Canadian Tire looking at countertops, toilets, and whatnot. They'd brought home pizza to apologize for missing dinner. The kids were more than happy to accept this apology. While eating Wesley had popped the question about having the Halloween party. Patrick had been hesitant at first with his children doing such a mundane activity but Chenoa had swayed him into agreed that it would a fun family activity. Chenoa was a mundane herself until she was 24 when she married Patrick. She'd always been the one to walk the line between mundane morals and Shadowhunter morals. She believed in what the Shadowhunters stood for but it was obvious that at times she questioned their hard laws. She had always thought it was important for her children to be kind, compassionate and understanding of all cultures, whether they be that of Shadowhunters or not. She'd made her children learn not only about Shadowhunter culture, but about mundane culture of all types, werewolf culture, vampire culture, and up until three years ago, fae culture as well. Wesley was ecstatic that his idea was embraced with such good intent. He'd already told the kids and they were just as excited, if not more. Reagan had heard Tahlia and Adsila brainstorming their costumes through Tahlia's bedroom door as she walked from the bathroom back to her room to change. She pulled on some pajama shorts and an old sweater knit by Chenoa that used to be Dyani's but now no longer fit her. It fit Reagan well. She was four inches shorter than Dyani and the sweater was big enough to accommodate her larger breasts and wider shoulders. The sweater did not reach further than Dyani's belly button now. Reagan loved the sweater. She'd never been a big fan of yellow but it was one of Dyani's favourite colours. She padded softly out of her room towards Dyani's room. It was the room next to hers so it wasn't much of a walk. They'd tried to get Patrick to blow a hole through the connecting wall so that they could put a door between their rooms but he'd refused. Reagan still thought it was a good idea. She knocked softly on the door and Dyani invited her inside. She entered the room to see Dyani flipping through her flower journal. The journal was old and leather bound. It was filled with pressed flowers, diary entries and the occasional photo or sketch. She'd tried to show Reagan how to press flowers but Reagan did not have the patience or self-regulation to survive the process. Her flowers always came out moldy or only half pressed. Dyani's were always beautiful. Reagan remembered her favourite one of Dyani's pressings: she'd pressed a whole forest of pine needles and fern then used water colour to paint the mountains towering overhead.

"Hey," Reagan said softly as she closed the door to the bedroom. Dyani moved over on her bed to make room for the other girl to sit beside her. "How're you feeling?"

Dyani breathed a quick sigh and placed the book down beside the bed, "I'm fine. I don't know why I still let this Halloween thing bother me."

Reagan knew why; Dyani was a deeply nostalgic person. She'd always been one to get lost in her feelings or daydream of past adventures. Yet she always made decisions with her mind instead of with her heart. Reagan knew that was hard for her to do. Every time she made a choice a war waged inside of her. She'd always choose the objectively better choice. Whether that choice was the right one or not was something that was best left unsaid and unthought-of. Halloween was hard for Dyani. It was true that she'd never liked parties as much as Reagan did. She used to go for the company. They'd all been very close with the halflings, a half human half fae race, that lived up in the woods of the mountains. They'd attend their parties and invited them to the institute for barbecues all year round. Some of their best friends had been halflings. Of course, this was before the Cold Peace. Dyani was most affected by this sudden change. She'd been closer to a halfing than any of the others could have ever imagined. Halloween brought back memories of these parties and memories of him. Reagan knew she wasn't fine, but she also knew that there was no stopping Dyani from reminiscing. All she could do was distract her, and that was exactly what she needed right now.

"Do you have time to read tonight?" Reagan asked.  
"Of course." Dyani smiled a silent message of thanks to her parabati, "Pride and Prejudice?"  
"And Zombies!" She added. Dyani rolled her eyes but picked up the book anyway. Dyani had wanted to read Pride and Prejudice but when they went to the bookstore and found the zombie version there was no changing Reagan's mind to read anything else. Dyani had already read the original, but that was beside the point.

"Get comfy." Dyani shifted her pillow to support her back and Reagan lay down beside her. She kicked her bare legs under the blankets and snuggled closer to her parabati. "Are you ready?"

"Ready."

Dyani began to read. Her voice was soothing as it flowed from word to word forming each intricately laid sentence with ease. Listening to Dyani read had always calmed Reagan down. It calmed Dyani just as much to read to her. This is why it was such a foolproof system and had become a lasting tradition. Dyani had loved to read from a very young age. She'd picked up classics like Treasure Island or Jane Eyre at the young age of eleven. Reagan, on the other hand, had the most difficult time reading. She'd had dyslexia all her life, yet she'd always been entranced by the art of storytelling. It was when the two were only ten that this reading arrangement first took place. Dyani had read Reagan the first Harry Potter book by flashlight after dark when she'd snuck into her room. From then on it had become a tradition that lasted until now when the two of them were seventeen (and almost seventeen). Reagan would add in the occasional smart remark or snorting laugh at Dyani's mispronunciation, and she'd get kicked from beneath the blanket for it. This would only make her laugh even more. Dyani would laugh too. It was an infectious thing, laughter. After they'd both calmed down the reading would continue until Reagan's eyes began to grow heavy and sleep claimed her as a willing victim. Dyani noticed she was fast asleep and marked the page they'd ended on. She always marked a few pages before the one she'd last read so that Reagan wouldn't be confused next time they read. Then she turned off the lamp, put the book down and snuggled into bed next to Reagan. She closed her eyes and let her breathing slow and her heartbeat match that of her parabati, and she too drifted into the gentle caress of sleep.

Dyani woke much earlier than Reagan. She always woke with the sun. Reagan, on the other end of the spectrum, could sleep through the apocalypse. Her brother was quite the same way. Neither of them would be seen up before ten o'clock unless the situation was incredibly dire. _It's not morning until I wake up;_ Connor had told her many times. She always joked that by that standard it wasn't nighttime until he went to sleep well past four am either. He'd laughed and told her that she was just starting to understand the way he lived. Crawling over Reagan to get out of bed was a familiar task to Dyani now. She'd fallen asleep with her parabati next to her too many times to count and now her many ugly habits went unnoticed. She hardly noticed Reagan's snoring or her tendency to steal all the blankets anymore. She pulled on some ratty jeans and a heavy sweater before quietly leaving the room. The institute was oddly quiet at this hour. Six am brought little company. The only voices she heard were those of her parents in the kitchen as she stole away out the back door. She could easily picture the scene in her head; her father would be leaning against the kitchen counter and her mother sitting at the island, her hands wrapped around a cup of black coffee. Her father preferred two sugars and a milk. He'd tell her mother a joke and she'd laugh her shrill loud laugh before stifling it quickly as to not wake the children. It wasn't an annoying laugh but an inviting and infectious laugh full of pure joy. It was one of Dyani's favourite sounds. Thinking of it now made her smile to herself as she pushed the door to the stable open. The familiar scent of freshly laid straw overtook her. She breathed it in with delight. The stable was small. It only held four stalls: for the four horses. The horses spent most of their time outdoors in the pasture but at night they all slept inside. Her mother had not let them out yet so they were all here. In the first stall was the eldest. Whiskey stood at a whopping 16.2 hands. His Clydesdale colouring matched the dark wooden paneling. In the dark, you'd hardly know he was there. Next to him stood Rain. She was an old mare with a white coat splotched by the occasional burgundy blotch. Beside her, Elvis was lying down in his stall. Patrick had named him after his extensive collection of Elvis vinyl. At the very far end was the youngest. The otherwise black mare had white markings on all of her feet. That's where she'd gotten the name, Socks. She was a handful. No one but Dyani was able to ride her. She was young and they hoped she'd grow more even-tempered with time. Even now she had to show attitude in the way she stood with her tail facing the door as she swished it slowly. A small low bark was heard from the other end of the stable.

"Shush. It's just Dyani." Wesley patted Tiny without looking up from the book he was reading. The dog stopped barking and began to wag his tail at Dyani from where he lay at Wesley's feet. Wesley sat on a hay bale in the corner of the stable with his legs bent and the book resting on his thighs. If only he had on a cowboy hat and some hay in his teeth, Dyani thought to herself with a smirk, then he'd be the perfect man to any country bumpkin. He was the only one who ever got up early. Like Dyani, he enjoyed the serenity that came with the dawn.

"What's it today?" She asked, knowing the book he was reading was the same one he always read: a large poetry collection from the institute's library.

He didn't look up from the book while he read:

 _"_ _Take this kiss upon the brow!  
And, in parting from you now,  
Thus much let me avow_"

"Poe, right?" She asked.

" _A Dream Within A Dream_." He agreed then closed the book, letting it lay on his thighs still. Dyani held out a hand to Tiny who licked it furiously. She wiped it on her pants. There was no shame in that. Besides these pants were old and worn.

"Reagan not up yet?" Wesley asked with a cheeky smile.

She rolled her eyes, "What about Connor?"

"You know how the O'Ridley's are." He chuckled and quoted Connor with a lopsided grin, "'Anything before ten is a regret.'"

"Right." She smiled a light flitting smile and clasped her hands in front of him. "Hey Wesley," her smile became tight-lipped, "I'm sorry about my attitude against the Halloween idea. It will be fun and the kids will love it. It wasn't right for me to be so" She searched for the right word, "Standoffish. I overreacted."  
"Standoffish, maybe?" He shrugged and gazed reassuringly up at her, "An overreaction, I don't think so. You over think your actions too much sometimes, you know? It's fine. You're allowed to have feelings."

"Thanks." Her heart felt less heavy already. Wesley had a way of doing that.

"Shall we let the horses out?" He hopped to his feet and Tiny promptly followed, his tail wagging in anticipation for the next activity.

A wet tongue dragging across his face awakened Connor. He groaned and shoved the attacker away from his face. His hands hit long curly fur and he didn't need to open his eyes to know it was Enyeto.

"You're gross." He muttered as he rubbed his eyes. Sitting up and opening his eyes he saw the dog looking up at him with a dopey expression on his face and drool still dribbling from his mouth. "Nice." He wiped the dog's slobber on his sheets before reaching for his watch. It was long after noon.

Connor was still stretching the sleep from his limbs when he passed through the house and ended up in the kitchen.

"I thought that was you." Wesley greeted him from the kitchen table. "I could tell by the shuffling."

"Good morning." Connor yawned back.  
"Afternoon." He corrected.

"Whatever." Connor went to grab the coffee from the pantry.

"Coffee's already on."

"Halleluiah." He averted his path to the coffee maker and poured himself a large mug. He added almost half the coffee's volume of milk before shuffling his way to sit across from Wesley. "What're you doing?" He asked after noticing Wesley had been making a list. The list had been there the whole time but it was just now that he noticed. He did not function very well the morning (or his version of the morning).

"List of stuff for the party." Wesley shoved the paper across the table to him.

His coffee was too hot so he read the list aloud; "Apples, candy (lots), decorative table settings, other decorations (not too scary), Rick's special brew (for after bed)." Connor stopped and looked up at Wesley, "Uncle Rick's brew?"

"Uncle Rick's brew." He smiled slyly back at him.

Connor snatched the pen from his hand and scribbled something down on the paper before passing it back with a smirk. As Wesley read what he wrote a grin crept up his face. In Connors looping scrawl 'lots' was written next to Wesley's small clean words stating 'Uncle Rick's Brew'.


	2. II

**AN: HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!**

Patrick had gotten the whole family, minus Dyani, into his caravan to go to the store. It was quite the feat considering the disputes he'd had to break up just to get them that far. Braeden and Tahlia had fought over who had to ride in the cramped back seat. Braeden lost this fight and inexplicably complained the whole ride down. It was one of many issues. The older children piled into the old beaten up truck. Dyani was in the driver's seat before the rest were even out the door. Dyani was always the one to drive. If she wasn't around Wesley was the second choice because Connor hadn't gotten his license yet and being Reagan's passenger was terrifying. The others piled in soon after the Caravan had left: Reagan calling shotgun, Connor with his coffee in a traveler mug, and Wesley all smiles with his list. Enyeto had hopped into the truck bed right before they left but no one kicked him out. He let his tongue hang out in the wind as the truck snaked through the forest and into town. They had to park some distance from the store. It was two days before Halloween so small costume stores that made their annual appearance every Halloween like this one were expected to be this packed. They found their family in the costume section where Tahlia and Adsila were arguing over which one of them would get to be Harley Quinn and which would be Poison Ivy. Braeden had already picked out a Scream costume for himself and was now threatening Luca with a plastic butcher knife. Chenoa was laughing at Patrick who was wearing an awful stick on mustache over in the couple's costumes section. Dyani began to skim the racks. While letting her fingers glide over the various fabrics she stopped in the middle of a distracting theme. She couldn't pull her eyes from the fairy themed costumes with their green and blue wings and skirts made of leaves. She felt something tug in her. It was a familiar feeling brought on by reminiscing. She almost smiled when she thought of how funny these costumes would have been to wear only a few years ago…

"Ani!" Reagan called her name and waved her to the other aisle.

Dyani left the fairy costumes and went to where her parabati was standing, "Yeah?"  
"I found the perfect costume for us!" She beamed as she shoved the costume toward Dyani.

"What's this?" Dyani took the costume and searched for the tag. Upon finding it she laughed, "This is ridiculous. 'Heist Hottie Gangster', really?"

"Then I can be the cop hot on your trail!" Reagan held up her costume. Dyani gave her an uneasy look and she begged, "C'mon! Just try it on. You'll look super good in it!"

Dyani emerged from the change room in her costume before Reagan did. She looked in the mirror and shrugged. As silly as the costume was Reagan was right, it did look good on her. The long and absurdly high waisted pants made her already long legs look even longer and even she had to admit that her butt did look kind of cute. The matching striped hat and white blouse gave her an immediate confidence boost. She made a few faces into the mirror and tipped her hat like the gangsters in the old black and white movies always did.

"Looking dangerous." Wesley commented from the doorway of one of the other change rooms. Dyani blushed. How long had he been watching her? She smiled and turned to him. He was leaning on the doorframe wearing a classic blue police officer costume. It made his arms look amazing. They always did but maybe it was just the whole 'man in uniform' thing that made them look even better. "Reagan got you into the whole group costume thing too?" He asked, gesturing to his outfit.

"I guess so." Dyani shrugged with a smile.

Reagan burst out of her change room wearing a short blue dress that barely resembled that of a cop's uniform and as soon as she laid eyes on Dyani let out a squeal, "You look so hot!" She turned to Wesley, "Look at her butt! I told you she'd look hot, right?"

"She's hot." He said casually and laughed at Dyani horrified expression.

"What about Connor?" Dyani rushed to move the focus off herself, "Is he a part of this too?"  
"Yes! Obviously!" Reagan turned to knock on her brother's change room door, "Hurry up!"

"I'm just having some trouble with the last part." He shot back.

"Just come out. I'll help you with whatever it is." Wesley offered.

The door slowly opened and Connor strolled out awkwardly in a pinstripe suit that matched Dyani's pants. Wesley smiled and approached him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I can't get this on." Connor held out a tie and looked away.

"You've never put on a tie?" He seemed shocked to learn this.

"We don't really wear a lot of ties up here."

"Don't worry. I've got it." Wesley took the tie and looped it around Connor's neck. Connor sucked in a sudden breath at the softness of Wesley's hands as he tightened the tie. Wesley met his eyes and lingered there for a quick moment with his hands placed gently on the lapel of Connor's shirt before Connor pulled away and Wesley stepped back and said, "That looks really good." He cleared his throat and averted his eyes quickly.

With costumes picked out, the four returned to Chenoa and the rest of the family. Tahlia had ended up with Harley Quinn and Adsila had gotten Poison Ivy. Patrick was concerned at how busty it made his young daughter at first, but Chenoa had reassured him that it was okay. When Luca had seen that Wesley was being a police officer he also wanted to be a police officer. Patrick quickly switched out the Spiderman costume for a police one. Next, they looked through the decorations. They settled on fairly simple decorations like spooky signs and fake spider webs. Dyani told her mom that herself, Reagan, Connor and Wesley would be meeting the rest of them later for dinner at the house. She said it was no worry and added a bottle of red wine to their list. They left their costumes in the truck where Enyeto lay sound asleep and took a ten-minute walk to Uncle Rick's Pub and Brewery: the pub was a few streets off the town's main plaza with a small parking lot. The building was long with only two stories. The first story is the pub and accompanying brewery and the second housed a small set of hostel-like rooms. Uncle Rick was always looking out for his customers. He made sure his customers either got a cab home or stayed in a bed until they were able to drive home. They'd had their fair share of nights spent on the second story.

Upon entering the pub they were greeted by a cheery wave from Uncle Rick behind the bar. The four approached him and sat on the stools across from him.  
"What can I getcha?" He asked. His wide smile was partially covered by his bushy graying mustache. As long as Wesley was on record as the one buying the alcohol he allowed the other three to drink. Being part of the downworld made him more relaxed when it came to mundane laws, especially for others from his world. Uncle Rick was Lucy's father and an honorary uncle to any downworlder in the surrounding area. He wasn't a werewolf himself. It was only Lucy who was attacked while they were on vacation in Minnesota. She was only twelve years old at the time. Rick had learned how to raise her the way she was and never once loved her any less for it.

"We need it to go." Dyani told him politely.

"Got somewhere to go?"

"It's for tomorrow night." Reagan told him with a smile.

"Halloween, eh? You coming here?" He asked.

"No. We're having a little shindig at home after we take the kids trick or treating."  
"The kids?" He bellowed with a laugh, "Last time I checked you were still kids!"

"I'll be eighteen in two weeks!" She protested.

"That's still a child to an old man like me!"

Reagan rolled her eyes but continued to smile.

"Alright, what do you need?" He targeted Wesley with the question.

"Bottle of red for Chenoa," He shrugged, "And a couple of classic Uncle Ricks for the rest of us."

"You should try the extra-strong Uncle Rick."

"Extra strong?" Wesley turned to Connor with his eyebrow raised in challenge.

"Burns real good going down. Even worse coming back up."

"Oh." Wesley shrugged and passed him his debit card, "Sure throw one of those in there."

"Bring the kids round here for trick or treating why don't you." Rick rung the up the card and handed it back along with four bottles, one for each of them to carry.

"Bring them here on Halloween?" Wesley scoffed, "No way. You know how it is here on Halloween better than anyone else."

"You kids were coming round here at their age."  
"Don't mention that." Reagan gestured to Dyani, "Some of us don't want that being brought up."

Rick flashed her a wink. Wesley thanked him and they walked back to the car.

They were home just in time for Chenoa to snag them for setting the table. Wesley poured her some wine and she told he didn't have to help. He told her that was sweet but he'd help anyway. Reagan shouted for the other kids and they all came barreling down the stairs for lasagna. The dinner conversation was filled with excited talk of Halloween. Luca told everyone that he was going to get the most candy. No one believed that he'd be able to stay out later than nine o'clock but no one argued with him. Tahlia was most excited to try out her costume makeup and Braeden bet Adsila that he would be able to get more candy by the end of the night. Their father scolded them for making bets again. Near the end of dinner, the clean up crew was to be determined. Patrick liked to choose the children who were to do dishes based on how well they'd been in training recently. Adsila and Tahlia had to do the dishes.

It was around nine o'clock and the whole family had found their way to the living room where Patrick, Reagan, and Connor were watching hockey as intensely as ever. Braeden lay on his back in the middle of the room playing on his DS. Adisla was looking over Tahlia's shoulder at her iPad where she was searching up makeup ideas for the next day. She kept pointing to almost every picture and saying, "I could totally do that" and "it's not even hard". In Tahlia's lap sat an old fluffy orange tabby cat. Ruffles was purring loudly. That cat hated everyone but Tahlia. Ruffles didn't _just_ not hate her; the damn thing adored her. Dyani lay on the couch with her eyes closed and listened to the game and the others shouting over it. Whenever anyone one scored, whether it was their team's goal or not, the room exploded with noise. Wesley looked up from his poetry book to see Luca dozing off on Chenoa's shoulder while she was working on her knitting.

"Someone looks a little tired." He got up and picked up the smaller boy, "I think it's time for you to go to bed, Luca."

"Can we learn about the dragon in the castle?" Luca asked Wesley with a yawn.

"Yeah." Wesley nodded at Chenoa who gave him a silent prayer, "What colour is the dragon?"

"Red!" Luca shouted.

"Duh! The best dragons are red!" Wesley was heard saying as he left the room carrying the boy. Their voices faded as they found their way upstairs to Luca's room. Bless Wesley, Dyani thought; he was such a good help around the institute. She knew her mother's appreciation could never be expressed fully in words. Whether it was breaking up fights or dealing with rowdy children; Wesley did a wonderful job handling it. He truly was a great asset to the institute.

Reagan woke up earlier than she'd expected to. It must have been the all the noise downstairs. She walked downstairs and entered the kitchen expecting to find it empty but instead she found most of the family. A plastic sheet was spread out over the kitchen table where Patrick and Wesley were helping the children carve pumpkins. Chenoa was mixing some ingredients in a bowl. Reagan wasn't sure what she was making but it smelt amazing.

"What are you making?" She asked as she swung by the fridge to grab a yogurt.

"Candy apples." Chenoa beamed in response.

"Wow! Let me try it." Reagan attempted to stick her finger into the bowl but Chenoa swatted her hand away.  
"No!" She rolled her eyes, "Patience is key. There's more than enough for you tonight."

"Patience is a virtue I do not have."

"Neither is caution!" Wesley quipped from the kitchen.

"Be quiet shi-" Reagan stopped herself and Wesley raised an eyebrow at her close slip up. Luca quickly pulled him away to get him to carve part of his design.

"Have you seen Dyani yet this morning?" Reagan asked as she opened the yogurt and began to eat it without a spoon. She found that the cups were easier and much quicker to eat without a spoon. Plus, there were fewer dishes so everyone won.

Chenoa shook her head, "Haven't seen her yet. It's odd she's usually down here by now."

"Thanks." Reagan threw out the now finished the yogurt before darting back upstairs to check if Dyani was still in her room.

She didn't bother to open the door. She never did.

"Hey!" Reagan announced as she walked into the room.

"Yes?" Dyani showed no reaction to her sudden loud outburst. It was a common occurrence. She was lying on her bed with her feet propped on top of Enyeto who was sleeping at the bottom of the bed. She had her camera in her hands.

"Instagram-worthy?" She gestured to the dog at her parabati's feet.

She snapped a quick picture and the dog stirred slightly, "Totally." She continued to scroll through the photo viewer on her camera.

"Are you getting it ready for today?"

"Yeah. I've got to delete some of the stupid shit on here."

Reagan moved so she could peer over Dyani's shoulder to see the pictures, "You better not delete any that I look hot in."

"I would never do that." Dyani teased, "It doesn't happen often. We need the photographic evidence."

"Hey!" Reagan shoved her shoulder gently with a laugh before looking at the picture on the screen, "Ew. Definitely, delete that."

"But this is one of the good ones."

"You suck." She snatched the camera from her hands and deleted it herself before scrolling through a couple more. "Holy shit!" She laughed, "Look at Wesley's face!"

"I know." Dyani smiled, "This was when we first took him to Uncle Rick's." She leaned over to look at the picture of Wesley. It was just under a year old. He had an empty shot glass in his hand and a sour expression scrunched on his face.

"Oh man, he was not ready!" Reagan laughed.

"Is anyone ever _really_ ready for Uncle Rick's Brew?"

Reagan smiled at her and quickly flipped through the rest of the pictures from that night. There were pictures of the four of them with some of the werewolves. They were wearing birthday hats, the kind that was a bright blue cone upon your head, in a few of them. Reagan remembered it was a birthday. A werewolf named Spencer's birthday to be exact. Spencer was their age and she was one of Reagan's best friends outside of the institute. Reagan watched as the photos changed from the dimly lit pub to the bright dock with the lake stretched out behind it.

"Hey, this one is my favourtite!" She beamed as she passed the camera to Dyani.

"I agree." Dyani smiled down at the picture of the two of them on the dock last summer. Reagan was on Dyani's back. She was mid-laugh. Her face caught in an open-mouthed expression of joy. She'd been very happy that day. She remembered laughing and smiling at the others as they took the boat out and went cliff jumping. She remembered making smores over a campfire when the sun had set and the stars came out. Connor had pushed Reagan into the lake fully clothed so she ended up borrowing Wesley sweater. She smiled at the memories as she remembered going to bed exhausted and sleeping in well past ten the next day.

The two parabtis spent the rest of that morning reminiscing: Dyani cracking jokes and imitating Reagan's stupid faces in the pictures while Reagan protested those imitations. They went as far back as nine years ago when they were only eight years old. They didn't know then as they dreamed of runes and adventure that they'd do both those very things together. Eight-year-old Reagan and Dyani did not know that they were going to be parabati; but looking at the pictures it didn't look like there was any other option.

When Connor made his way to the kitchen well past noon Wesley and the kids were still carving the pumpkins.

"Coffee's in the pot." Wesley informed him without looking at him. It was astonishing how Wesley always had the coffee ready just as Connor made it downstairs. Connor sometimes wondered if Wesley spied on him. Of course, the reality was that Wesley just knew him well enough to know his habits.

"Hey Connor, are you going to make a jack o' lantern?" Adsila asked.

"Nah." He shook his head and poured himself his usual large cup of coffee.

"It's because he's too weak to cut through the pumpkin." Tahlia quipped.

Connor brought a hand to his heart in a dramatic gesture, "How could you say such a thing? I am an expert at pumpkin carving, right Wes?"

"Mmm, I don't know." He hesitated and chuckled at the last time he's seen Connor attempt to carve a pumpkin. It was last Halloween and they were at Uncle Rick's. Also, Connor was very drunk. "I think you need to prove it." He challenged.

"Yeah! Prove it!" Tahlia smirked.

"I can't believe you think I can't carve a pumpkin." Connor placed his coffee on the counter and grabbed a knife off the table. "Give me a pumpkin. I'll show you how it's done."

"Take the top off this one." Adsila pushed a large pumpkin towards him, "And take all the guts out."

"Let's take it one step at a time." Wesley teased.

"Ha." Connor stuck out his tongue at the other boy who merely laughed at it. He then began to saw through the top of the pumpkin. It wasn't hard but the lid of his pumpkin did not end up very round. He held it up with all the guts and seeds still hanging from it with a look of pleased triumph.

"Now the guts."

He pulled the guts from the lid and held them close to Tahlia, "Would these look good in your hair? I think so!"

"Ew!" She yelped in response and pushed his hands away from her, "Don't be gross!"

"Yeah, Connor," Wesley remarked with a hint of Tahlia's valley girl accent, "Stop being so gross."

"You're gross." He responded with an even more overplayed accent.

"No, you're grosser!" Wesley shot back.

"Lies!"

He crossed his arms as a smirk fell onto his lips, "I'm not the one holding pumpkin guts."

Connor ripped the guts free from the pumpkin lid and threw them towards Wesley. Being caught off guard they landed on his shoulder. His mouth dropped open in disbelief before he grabbed some of his own and threw them at Connor. Connor was able to duck sending the guts over his shoulder and onto the kitchen floor. Both of the boys leaped to their feet: Connor digging inside the pumpkin for more ammunition and Wesley spinning into the middle of the kitchen with the guts from his shoulder now in his fist. Connor readied himself across the kitchen from him and met his eyes as if to say _game on_. Wesley charged towards him first and tossed the guts into his face. Connor wiped them off and chased him in a circle until Wesley, not watching his feet, slipped on the guts that had previously been tossed to the floor and went spiraling to the ground. Connor wasn't able to stop himself in time and tripped on Wesley's legs and he too fell to the ground. As soon as he caught his breath he began to laugh. Wesley joined him. Both of them lay on their backs with the orange pumpkin remains on the floor surrounding him.

"You got it in my hair!" Connor managed to say between laughs, "How'd you get it in my hair!"

"Good shot?" Wesley erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Boys?" Chenoa looked questionably onto the scene of the two boys laying on the floor in a mess laughing. She's only been gone an hour. Connor red-faced and Wesley with dimples in full rise shot up into a sitting position immediately at her voice. "What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry." Wesley held back his smile as he rushed to apologize.  
"I don't care." She shook her head and let out a sigh, "As long as you clean it up and give me the seeds there's no harm done." She smiled and shook her head after looking at them again. "And go shower." She said before moving on into the next room.

"You're an idiot." Connor whispered with a smile.

Wesley flashed him a grin and responded, "So are you."

Reagan and Dyani met up with Connor and Wesley on their way downstairs. Upon seeing them both covered in pumpkin they stopped and looked quizzically at them.

"You have a pumpkin seed in your hair?" Dyani pointed out as she stopped Connor to pluck it from his hair.

"I know." He smiled sheepishly as he took it from her hand.

"How?"

"Leave it to Connor to get pumpkin in his hair." Reagan rolled her eyes.

"It's all in the spirit of Halloween!" He winked at Wesley who just smiled and shook his head slightly.

"Dyani dear!" Chenoa was heard shouting from the kitchen.  
"Yes, mom?" Dyani asked as her and Reagan rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Oh, and Reagan, perfect." She waved her towards the jack o' lanterns. "Please take those to the porch for me."

"No problem Mrs. Ravenshade." She took the first pumpkin and walked it down the hallway towards the front door.

"Dyani help me hang this." Chenoa pulled a chair up for her to stand on. She tossed the other end of the hanging letters to her daughter who caught them with ease.

"Let's get spooky?" Dyani read aloud with a short laugh as they stretched the lettering out to its full length.

"I thought it was cute." Her mother smiled gently as she hung her side up over the fridge. Dyani smiled back and secured the other end over the stove.

When six o'clock rolled around everyone began to get into their costumes. Some took longer than others. The males needed no longer than five minutes (except for Connor who still wasn't able to tie his tie on his own), but the females took time varying from half an hour, for Chenoa, to an hour and a half, for Tahlia and Adsila. Reagan and Dyani took somewhere in between this time. After an hour was up they were both dressed and ready to go. Dyani was still scoffing at the costume Reagan had gotten her to wear despite Reagan being baffled at how good it looked on her. They all waited together in the front hall for Tahlia and Adsila. When the two girls arrived it was a shock to everyone. Tahlia's makeup and hair abilities were known to be good, but her skills still surprised every time she was able to show them off. Patrick almost had a heart attack when he saw his daughters with blue and red hair and orange hair. Tahlia had calmed him down by explaining that it was only a spray can dye and would last no longer than a week at best. Chenoa thought they looked adorable, even though that was not what Tahlia was going for, and praised the coloured hair. They all took many photos in the front hall before all piling into the truck, the older teenagers in the bed and the younger kids in the seats, and heading down to town to trick or treat.

Trick or treating went surprisingly smoothly for a bunch of Shadowhunters who'd never done it before. Tahlia and Braeden raced across lawns to be the first one to knock on doors, Adsila met another Harley Quinn and ended up spending the night with her, and Dyani spent most of her time with Chenoa and Patrick who held casual conversation with other parents hanging back on the sidewalks as their children ran from house to house. Reagan met up with Spencer who was babysitting her neighbor's two children. Spencer liked the costume. She told Reagan she was going to dress up as a werewolf but then decided it was a little too much; instead, she was Little Red Riding Hood. The irony she loved so much was still there but it was more subtle (or tasteful according to Lucy). Connor bounced between his sister and Wesley throughout the night. He ended up spending more time with Spencer and Reagan because Wesley was busy with Luca all night. He would go up to porches hand in hand with him and mothers would marvel at how precious their matching costumes were. Wesley had to explain to a few that Luca was not his son but his "younger brother". This only made them happier. It wasn't only mothers that loved him that night. Multiple groups of teenage girls giggled and flirted with the handsome older brother who was kind enough to dress up and go out trick or treating with his adorable brother. If Wesley wanted to it would have been more than easy to get lucky that night, but every time he was invited to a party or someone's house he politely declined. The night wound down around ten o'clock when Luca was asleep on Wesley's shoulder and even Braeden was tuckered out from holding his heavy bag of candy. Dyani knew that Adsila owed him money because just from looking at the bulging bag she could tell that he'd gotten more loot.

By the time the family arrived home Luca was fast asleep. Wesley brought him upstairs and expertly put him in bed without waking him. By the time he got back downstairs the kids all dumped their candy onto the living room floor. Tahlia, Adsila, and Braeden had their piles sorted into chips, lollipops, chocolate, and candies. They were counting them now.

"345!" Adsila shouted in triumph.

"350!" Braeden stood up with a shout. "Eat it!"

"Braeden!" Chenoa scolded him but he trudged on.

"You owe me half your candy!"

"That's not fair!" Adsila whined.

"Addy, you've got to stop making bets you cannot win." Tahlia rolled her eyes as she yawned and undid the pigtails in her hair.

"Mom he can't do this!" Adsila turned for her mother's support.

"Leave your candy with me." She instructed, "We will deal with this in the morning."

"Mom!" They both protested at once.

"No. I don't want to hear it." She began to shuffle all three of them up the stairs and to their rooms.

"Let's get the real spirits of Halloween up in here." Connor appeared from the kitchen at the sound of the children's feet against the roof. He was holding a six-pack of Uncle Rick's brew. He tossed one toward Patrick who caught it with a chuckle that gave way to his laughter lines and said:

"I agree."

"Hit me up brotha!" Reagan held out her hand as if she was to catch a baseball in a mitt and not a glass bottle in her bare hand. Connor threw it in a spiral like a baseball. She caught the bottle with a hard slap against her hand. She opened the bottle easily and took a long swig. Connor then threw a bottle towards Dyani and Wesley before he took popped the top of his and began to drink heartily. Dyani placed hers on the coffee table without touching it and sat down on the couch. She let herself sink into it gracefully. She felt Wesley's body sink into the spot beside her and she could smell the fumes from his open bottle. It was oddly spicy smelling and it made her gag. That was Uncle Rick's specialty after all. She didn't find the same appeal as the others did in attempting to down the strongest beers. Just the thought made her feel sick.

"One day of mundane life and you're already pooped?" Wesley teased lightly as he drank a little more, "I could've given you a stamina rune or two out there."  
"That would be a little out of the ordinary for the mundanes." She replied turning to face him. He was still in his costume, they all were, and the blue brought out the red in his flushed face.

He laughed at this, "A drink now would let you sleep past twelve for once."  
"I don't think I need it honestly." She sighed, letting a small tired appear on her lips.

"Hey, you two stop the flirting and come join us!" Reagan yelled at them from across the room.

Dyani hide her face and scoffed, "Flirting? Give me a break!"

Wesley laughed as he got up from the couch and made his way to where the twins stood. "Why don't we brave those ones with the extra kick?" He offered up.

"Hell yeah!" Reagan started to distribute the three bottles.

"On the count of three?" Wesley unscrewed the top of his bottle. The other two followed and waited for his count. "Three." He looked at Reagan with a smirk. "Two." His gaze shifted to Dyani who held the camera up to capture their faces. "One." He met Connor's eyes with a playful tension. They all downed as much of the bottle as they could in one drink. Their faces twisted into varying expressions of disgust and surprise.

"Wow." Connor coughed, "He wasn't lying."

"Dyani try it." Reagan's face slowly untwisted from a scowl.  
"I'd rather not." She responded.

Chenoa joined them in the kitchen where Patrick had already poured her a glass of red wine.  
"Momma's going to have herself a good night." She winked as she took up the glass. But just as she raised the glass to her lips the home phone began to ring. She put the glass down with a grunt and reached for the phone while complaining about the awful timing. She put the phone to her ear and her expression immediately changed. Everyone noticed it as soon as it happened. Her smile shifted to the concerned look a mother wore so well. She nodded and quickly told them that they'd send someone right away. Her hand firmly placed the phone down before she spoke, "There's been a murder."


	3. III

Chenoa had been downplaying the severity of the situation when she'd told the four teenagers and her husband that the wolves had reported 'a murder'. Reagan wondered if it was Chenoa who had downplayed the situation; she'd promised not to hold back from the truth even if it was gruesome after sending them very unprepared into a demon den; Reagan thought that it must have been Lucy, who was too flustered on the phone to fully describe what had happened. Looking around Reagan counted five bodies. They were all werewolves. She did not know any of them well. As bad as it sounds she was thankful for that. Her most daunting fear was that it was Spencer who'd been killed. When she got out of the truck and saw the poor girl in tears accompanied by one of the older wolves, who had his arm placed protectively around her shoulders, she was beyond relieved. Patrick and Dyani went straight to Lucy for details, professionally as always. Connor began to take photos and Wesley got to work on the forensics. Reagan couldn't help but just stand there and watch. She'd never been good at responding to situations like this one. She did not like to do investigations into deaths. She'd much rather go head first into a hoard of demons then dust for prints, collect evidence or listen to alibis. The way she looked at it was: if the victims were all already dead, then they'd already failed.

"Hey Connor," Wesley motioned for him to come to squat beside him. He did. "Look at this?" Wesley pulled back the cloth of the young man's shredded shirt to reveal a gag worthy gore fest underneath. Connor had to look away quickly before looking back.

"What exactly am I looking at?" He asked. He had never been all that good finding peculiarities in mauled bodies. That was Wesley's specialty. To him the body had merely been gutted; its insides flipped outward by claws, fangs, or a serrated blade. Maybe all three, he thought half heartily.

"He's missing his fifth rib." Wesley bit the inside of his cheek while he watched Connor peer closer to the body. "See there. The one on the right is missing. It looks like it was snapped off."  
"Pressure maybe?"

He shook his head, "I don't think so. It looks like the whole rib cage has been pulled forward slightly."

"You think they took the rib?" Connor could hear the disbelief in his own voice.

"I certainly don't see any ribs laying around here," Wesley grunted as he stood up and began to walk towards the other bodies.

"What're you doing?" He found his stride easily within the other boy's gait.

"I'm going to see if the other bodies have missing ribs."

Dyani had seen murdered downworlders before. It was part of her job after all. But this scene gave her chills, and they weren't due to her sleeveless Halloween costume that she hadn't had time to change out off. From the way, the scene looked she'd had assumed that the victims were attacked by an animal. These were werewolves, so that seemed highly unlikely. Yet she still couldn't shake the animalistic feeling that radiated from the mauled bodies. What would've had the ability, let alone the audacity to do such a thing? Lucy did not seem to know. Dyani and her father had been talking to her for almost fifteen minutes and had just now found out that she had not even been at the Brewery when it happened. Lucy received a call from Sampson after he heard Spencer scream from out back and rushed to her aid only to find the bodies. It was then that she called Chenoa and headed over. Patrick politely excused himself and his daughter after learning he'd wasted his time. They headed over to talk to Sampson who was trying to calm down the distraught Spencer. Dyani politely gave her condolences to Spencer, who with tears in her eyes thanked her.

"What happened?" She directed the question to Sampson.

"I'm not quite sure." He admitted in his gruff voice, "I just heard Spencer cry out and knew I had to go and help her, but when I got out here there was nothing to stop. They were all dead."

"Spencer, did you see anything?"

She shook her head and sniffled before explaining in choked words, "I was out here with them. We took a smoke break but I forgot my lighter. So I went in to get it and when I came out-" A quick sob hitched her breath and she covered her mouth with her hands. Dyani let her compose herself. "They were all dead." She continued frantically, "I was only gone a minute, maybe less!"

"Did you see anyone before or after the attack?" Patrick asked her.

She shook her head and sunk a little deeper into Sampson.

"Was there anything; anything at all that seemed out of the ordinary about tonight?" Dyani asked her with a certain motherly softness edging into her tone.

"No. I'm sorry."

 _Well now we're back to the start,_ Dyani thought, _with nothing._

"If you think of something don't hesitate to call us."

The group met soon after. Lucy had ordered that the bodies be taken to the funeral home and all the other werewolves to head home immediately. She was sure that someone or something was out to get her pack. She told them all to head home and not to go out again until ten o'clock the next day when she was going to hold a pack meeting that everyone was required to attend. She was putting all the werewolves under high security until the culprit was caught. Of course, when Wesley informed her of his finding and what was to come from them she was only more worried. Patrick guaranteed her that they would look into it.

The drive home was somber but when they got home Chenoa greeted them with a comforting smile. She quickly hugged each teenager and kissed her husband quickly.  
"I know that you all are a little worried." She said as she led them into the kitchen. "But there is nothing we can do about it now, so I think we should finish what we started."

Patrick smiled at her. She was sweet to try to break the ice and he agreed that the teenagers needed this.

"Here," She held out a plate of candy apples and offered it to the teenagers, "Take one."

"Thanks, mom." Dyani smiled and took one of the smaller apples.

"And these" Her mom gestured to the five still unopened beer bottles, "Need to be finished before the kids seem them." She winked before taking Patrick by the hand and leading him upstairs. Dyani gave her father a confused look but he just shrugged and retreated upstairs with Chenoa.

"She does have a point." Connor reluctantly inched towards to beers.

"Go for it." Wesley chuckled and grabbed an apple. "She's right. We can't worry ourselves too much now. We'll be focused on this a lot in the next few days or however long it takes."  
"And forgetting about it would be kind of nice." Reagan shrugged while forcing a smile onto her face.

"Sure." Dyani shook her head, "Whatever."

The others smiled at her approval and each took a beer.

It was around three in the morning when everyone had finally fallen asleep in their own rooms. Dyani had only eaten half of her apple as she'd watched the others carry on the festivities. Now that they'd all fallen asleep she'd thrown out the empty beer bottles and was carrying three bottles of water upstairs to the others' rooms. She opened each of their doors quietly as to not wake them, even though the chances of that were very unlikely, and placed a bottle of water on each of their nightstands. She then went to wash the makeup off her face, unlike Reagan who just fell into bed with her full face of makeup still on. Reagan tended to do that quite often. The cool water against her felt so nice that Dyani almost got into the shower. She stopped when she remembered how late (early?) it was and that showering would surely wake Luca.

Dyani fell into bed with a sigh that night but sleep was hard to find. She rolled over in bed to watch the stars that twinkled over the forest out her window and the waning moon that hung high in the dark sky when she heard the distinct sound of twigs snapping in the backyard. She shot upright and stepped out of bed and towards the window. She was worried that maybe someone forgot to let the dogs inside. She peered out into the darkness below. She couldn't see anything, but she could hear more rustling of bushes that she was sure weren't due to the wind. She sighed and opened the door. She'd have to go downstairs and check that the dogs weren't still outside.

She didn't bother to turn on the lights when she walked down the hall and into the kitchen. She didn't have to. She knew this house inside out. It was the only place she had ever called home. She could hear Enyeto snoring from in the living room as she headed towards the back door. She cupped her hand above her eyes and pressed herself to the door in hopes of seeing through the darkness. It was oddly silent outside. Even the normal sounds of the forest seemed to be hushed. There was a scratch of claws on the tile behind her that made her jump slightly. When she turned around and saw Tiny wagging his tail behind her she laughed and pat his nose. She checked the lock on the door before heading back up to bed. It was locked. The noise was probably just a deer, or maybe a raccoon. Dyani rolled her eyes at herself for letting something so stupid get on her nerves.

This time she was ready to fall asleep for good. She was exhausted and could feel her heavy eyes screaming for rest. She pushed open her bedroom door and was suddenly enveloped in cold. She hugged herself as the cold air hit her. It was freezing. She did not remember it being this cold when she left. She checked the window and found it was still closed. She rolled into bed and kicked the blankets around her bare legs. She snuggled into the new warmth and forgot about the odd chill almost immediately. It wasn't _that_ out of the ordinary for an old house like this in the middle of nowhere to get cold at night. She told herself she had nothing to worry about and fell asleep.

Even to Dyani, seven o'clock came much too early that next morning. It was completely unnecessary for Patrick to sound an emergency bell at such an awfully early time; Dyani thought as she stood now outside in her gear with the cold late autumn air biting at her exposed skin. It was especially awful that the bell had been a purposeful false alarm. Dyani had rushed downstairs only to find that nothing was wrong. In fact, the house was more presentable than usual. The other teenagers had somehow managed to drag themselves downstairs only minutes after Dyani had. When Reagan stumbled into the kitchen to see what was wrong but instead found a perfectly pleasant setting and Patrick smiling smugly at her, she let out a few choice words from under her breath. They'd been informed that they must change into their training gear as quickly as possible and with many protests they did. They were used to this- well somewhat. The point of this 'exercise', as Patrick cheerily called it, was that you were never ready for it and therefore must always be ready for it. Make sense? It made sense to Dyani in theory, but she still hated it as much as anyone else would. Patrick would sound the emergency alarm at seemingly random times and when the children responded they'd find out it was a false alarm. Instead, they'd have a challenge to complete as part of their daily Shadowhunter training curtsy of Patrick. In the backyard now Patrick began his speech to anyone older than twelve. Tahlia did not like her new addition to this part of training.

"Today's challenge is to run to Bear Grove in forty minutes or less." He announced.

"Patrick no. By the angel, please not today." Connor's grumbled protest left his mouth as his hands went to his temples, "I'm super fucking hung over."

"Warriors never get breaks." He chided back. Tahlia giggled towards Connor who responded with a vicious side-eye.

Reagan began to pull out her stele to give herself a rune that could stop the ground from spinning beneath her when Patrick shook his head and put out his hand and commanded, "Steles."

A collective groan sounded from the group as they all hesitantly handed over their steles.

"Oh and no cheating." Patrick continued. "There are flags up there. Get me a flag and bring it back down before the forty-minute mark and you pass. Oh! I almost forgot: there are only five flags."

The trail to Bear Grove was a familiar ten kilometers. What made it difficult was the terrain. It was uphill, very steep at points, and littered with obstacles including fallen trees, rocks, and more than one river. Dyani found herself in the middle of the pack at the five-mile mark. Tahlia and Braeden were more than likely a few miles ahead of her. They'd shot off the beginning at top speed. They were both highly competitive and Dyani could easily assume they'd placed bets on it. Wesley was comfortably beside her. How he was able to recover so quickly from the night before was baffling. Then again, he'd always been able to hold his alcohol better than the rest. When Dyani thought about it, she realized she couldn't recall any memory of him every being drunk (or showing any of its symptoms at least). Reagan, Connor, and Adsila were behind her at varying distances with Connor bringing up the rear. The poor guy had thrown up within the first mile.

When Dyani and Wesley reached the Grove, a large clearing in the woods with a few picnic tables and a dock that stood before one of the bigger rivers, two of the flags were gone.

"Those two are long gone." Wesley laughed as he plucked a flag off for himself and tossed another to Dyani. She stopped and caught her breath. "Only one left."

"Reagan's going to be her soon." She told him. She could feel the heartbeat of her parabati increasing as she was surely climbing the rock outcrop just before the grove. She let Reagan draw on her strength while she remained at rest. She'd made it to the grove in nineteen minutes. She knew she only had a minute or less to catch her breath. She began to walk back towards the trail slowly until she noticed Wesley was not with her. She turned and saw him lying on the picnic table with his eyes closed. "You coming?" She shouted back at him as she found her way back into the shade of the woods.

"I'll meet you there." He responded light-heartedly.

"Okay." She rolled her eyes and broke into a jog just in time to see Reagan coming over the bend in the trail in front of her.

Reagan had gotten the last flag shortly after Dyani left. Then Adsila came by only to find that there was no flag for her to take. She huffed disappointedly and began her trek back down. Wesley left with fifteen minutes left of the allotted time. He returned to the rock outcrop to see Connor struggling to pull himself from the last foothold. Wesley offered him a hand and hauled the other boy up beside him. Connor promptly fell to the ground with a resigned sigh of defeat. He looked sick. He was pale and his eyes squinted shut from the sunlight.

"There are no more flags left." Wesley shook Connor's dark blonde hair quickly before heading back down the outcrop.

"I know there are no more fucking flags!" He shouted back causing Wesley to laugh.

Dyani was the third one back. She handed her flag to her father.

"You're killing the twins." She told him with a smirk while silently willing more energy into Reagan. He shrugged and returned to drinking his coffee and staring off the back porch towards the path into the woods.

Reagan walked into the kitchen with Wesley with Patrick following them. He didn't need to wait outside any longer. All five flags were collected. Adsila and Connor would arrive eventually. Eventually ended up being almost 15 minutes over the allotted time. Connor stumbled, pale-faced and heaving, into the kitchen threatening to throw up on the rest of them. The others rolled their eyes at him but Chenoa placed a hefty mug of tea on the table in front of him.

"It's ginger." She smiled lightly; "Drink up."

"You are an angel." Connor took a hearty swig, "But your husband is the devil."

Chenoa laughed and pat his shaggy hair. It was something she'd always done for as long as he could remember. It was something his mother had never done.

Dyani had followed Adsila up to her room after breakfast. The young girl had been distant, more so than usual, and Dyani instantly knew that something was bothering her little sister. She knocked twice on her bedroom door before pushing it open slowly. She closed it behind her and said gently, "Hey Addy."

"Hi." Her sister pushed a forced smile onto her face.

"Can I sit?"

Adsila nodded and Dyani sat next to her. She picked up the hairbrush that was sitting in the girl's lap and began to comb out her hair. She worked in silence until her sister was ready to begin talking.

"Dyani?" Adsila's small voice broke the silence of the room.

"Yes?" Dyani answered as she began to part Adsila's caramel coloured hair into sections to braid.

She was hesitant when she asked, "Did you ever think that maybe you weren't going to be a good Shadowhunter?"

"No." Dyani answered and let the silence spread throughout the room as she continued to weave the strands of hair together with ease, "Do you feel like that?"

Addy nodded causing the hair to slip from Dyani's hands. She quickly gathered it up and began once again, "You have no reason to feel like that. You are going to make a great Shadowhunter."

"I don't know how to be." She swallowed, "You and Reagan are so talented and- and I just can't keep up."

"We're three years older than you. I wasn't like I am now at fourteen."

"But Tahlia and Braeden-"

"They're competitive. They strive to be the best. When you're like that your learning curve becomes steeper. You aren't like them in that sense. You don't feel the need to win these challenges dad comes up with. Just because you don't win them doesn't mean you aren't a good Shadowhunter."

"I guess so. I just feel like I should be better at it. I don't know. It's stupid probably."

"It's not stupid." Dyani finished off the braid and reached over to the nightstand to grab a hair tie. Adsila handed it to her. "It may take you longer to learn a combat move or run a mile, but that doesn't make you any less. Sure Braeden can jump higher, and Tahlia can run faster, but I've never seen anyone who can make jewelry as nice as yours." Dyani dropped the braid against her back and unclipped the necklace from around her neck. She dropped it in the palm of Adsila hand. "Look at that. It's beautiful. I'd like to see Braeden try to make something like that with his jumping skills." Dyani smiled to herself as she watched her sister's mouth curved into a shy smile as she looked at the carving of a pair of antlers sitting in her palm.

Adsila turned and hugged Dyani. "Thank you." She whispered against her neck.

Just after lunch, Dyani was told to meet the others in the library. She knew exactly what was to happen. When she got there the others sat in varying positions around the large open area between the bookshelves that fanned outwards. Connor had a laptop connected to a projector that showed the grisly evidence of the night before. Wesley had a small notebook in his lap and a pencil tucked behind his ear. Chenoa and Patrick sat near the projector in separate wooden chairs. All of these people seemed on edge but it did not worry Dyani. What did worry her was the look on her parabati's face. She could feel the nervous energy coming off of Reagan as she walked towards her and sat on the leather couch beside her. Dyani slid her hand over the other girl's and gave it a gentle squeeze. Reagan looked over at Dyani and met her eyes with a slight smile. Dyani understood how hard these were for Reagan to sit through. Dyani always understood.

Patrick opened the case by explaining the general circumstances and what he and Dyani had gathered from talking to Lucy and Spencer.

"The attack happened within a minute. Whoever, or whatever, did this took less than a minute to kill five very competent werewolves. No one claims to have seen anything out of the ordinary that night. Whatever happened was powerful and most likely planned to a tee." Patrick explained before turning to Wesley, "Anything peculiar about the bodies?"

Wesley stood and made his way to the projector screen. He signaled Connor who put the image of the opened up male victim on the screen. "As you all probably noticed yesterday; the bodies were gutted in quite an animalistic way. This sort of attack looked like it was done by a werewolf. But upon further inspection and common sense, I ruled out that possibility." Connor flipped to the next slide to show the cuts up close. "The way that the skin was ripped was precise at first. It was cut with accuracy and intent. It was not until something was retrieved from the body that the attacker, or attackers, mutilated the body to the way you see it now. It was a cover up. They wanted something from these wolves." The slide switched to show the missing rib. "In every victim, I found the fifth rib on the right to be missing. No ribs were found on the scene, so one can only assume the attacker took them. Why they wanted ribs, I do not know. The most logical theory is that these were ritualistic killings."

"Thank you, Wesley," Patrick said as Wesley sat down. "There are two things you need to look into." He addressed the four teenagers, "One: how did this attacker suspend five wolves at once without any of them being able to fight back or call out. And two: what kind of ritual requires ribs from a werewolf."

As the afternoon wore into the evening, the teenagers' hopes grew thinner. Although there was an abundance of information in the institute's library, it was not the right information. Connor had grown weary from the reading. His short attention span let him sleep within only a few hours of research. When he was woken it was by his sister's hand against his forehead it wasn't gentle. The sharp flick of her wrist sent him jolting out of his sleep and immediately into an aggressive position. Reagan stepped out of his way (both she and Connor had a lack of flight response) and shrugged, "Dinner's ready."

Dinner was the usual loud affair. With the table full and each person talking over the next it was impossible not for it to be loud. Reagan and Dyani offered to clear off the table while the rest of the family went their separate ways. Wesley was going with Tahlia and Adsila to watch some awful romance movie. Reagan didn't know why he kept watching movies with them. All they ever wanted to watch was Nicolas Sparks movies. Just the thought made Reagan gag. Wesley was a good sport for putting up with them. As a surprise to most, Connor went to go practice his swordsmanship. He was quite vocal at his distaste for their shock before leaving for the training room. Once it was only Dyani and Reagan in the kitchen washing the dishes and putting them away Reagan spoke up.

"Hey, Dy?" She said as she put the glasses on the drying rack.

"What's up?" Dyani responded casually.

"What do you think about the werewolves?"

"Are you asking me what I think happened to them?"

"I guess so."

"Well, it seems reasonable to think it was a ritualistic killing. That doesn't necessarily mean that it was done by downworlders though."

"I can't get over how quick it happened. That seems to disprove that."

"Well planned mundane attacks can happen that quickly." Dyani dried her hands on the hand towel then tossed it to Reagan. The two girls lapsed into a silence as they finished up.

"Do you think we could've done something more about it?" Reagan asked hesitantly.

Dyani smiled softly at her parabati who bit her lower lip, a sure sign of the anxiety that hid behind her false expression. "No. Reagan, there was nothing anyone could have done. Especially not you."

"We didn't find anything helpful today. We have no idea who did this and no way to stop them. I'm just worried-" Reagan swallowed the lump in her throat, "I'm worried about Spencer, and the other werewolves."

Dyani took Reagan's hands and easily laced her fingers through hers. They fit like a glove: familiar and safe. Reagan looked up at her and Dyani gave her a reassuring smile. The thing about Dyani was that she always smiled with her eyes. Her mouth was a thin curved line but her eyes were sparkling. Reagan felt her fears melting away under her gaze as she spoke in a caring tone that she knew she'd never get tired of hearing:

"It's like we told Patrick. There's no real way of knowing exactly who or what did it, or exactly how it happened. We don't know if it'll happen again either. We don't even know for sure it was wolves that were targeted. There is just not enough significant evidence to go on right now. There's nothing more we can do. Please don't beat yourself up over it."

Connor could feel the sweat pooling between his shoulder blades and soaking through the fabric of his dark shirt. The sword he held threatened to fall from his clammy hands. He pushed forward, yet his grip faltered and his balanced slipped every time the force of the sword pushed back against him after it slammed against the dummy. He grit his teeth and struggled through the pain of the hilt digging into his palms. He remembered his father, the last time his parents had been at the institute he'd been scolded. No, scolded was too light of a word; he'd been shamed by his father for not being able to swing a broadsword in a reliable arc. With that memory in mind, he swung the sword high above his head. It came down in a crash of pent up anger that swung right by the dummy and crashed to floor loudly. When the ringing from his ears came to a halt, Connor dropped the sword from his grip and placed his head in his hands. His labored breathing was broken by the sound of the door opening. Wesley walked in with the same confident stride he always used. A friendly glow shone in his eyes as he stopped a few feet from Connor.

"Still working on the broadsword?" He asked, acting oblivious to the last event that he had caught sight of. Connor didn't need to know how much he'd seen.

"Yeah." Connor shrugged and picked up the sword with hesitant hands.

"How's it going?"

"Not well." He sighed.

"Let me help you." Wesley flashed him a charming grin. "Show me your stance."

"Okay." Connor gave him a quick side-glance before awkwardly attempting to put himself into a suitable position.

"Well, there's your problem." Wesley approached him with a chuckle.

"What?" Connor protested.

"You're standing like you're about to use a bow, not a sword. That's your first problem." Wesley positioned himself in the proper stance next to him, "Bring your left leg back towards the center. You want to get a wider stance across your body. Does that make sense?"

Connor nodded and put his feet more than shoulder width apart.

"Yeah! That's better! Now pick up the sword in both hands." Wesley watched Connor do so and he shook his head. He then took Connor's hands under his own and repositioned them. Connor's hand flinched ever so slightly at his touch but Wesley ignored it. He was about to fix Connor's shoulder position but stopped with his hand hovering near his body to ask, "May I?"

Connor looked at him and felt a hot blush growing into his cheeks. He looked down and nodded. Wesley placed his hands on Connor's back and where the sweat was once hot, it now ran cold sending an unexpected shiver down Connor's spine. Whether Wesley noticed or not, he did not show it as he went along with straightening the other boys back and lifting his dominant arm carefully.

"Try swinging like this." Wesley began to back up, "But wait until I'm out of the way!"

Connor smiled lightly at his joke causing the dimples in his cheeks to flare up. Both him and Reagan had this symptom of smiling, but his were always more prominent. Wesley gave him the go ahead. Connor swung the sword. He was astonished by how much power he now had. This strength threw his stance off balance and the sword came down and nicked his shin. He swore lightly.

"You alright?" Wesley was already standing in front of him with his stele out.

"I don't need a healing rune. It's not that bad." Connor bit his inner cheek, "I wasn't prepared for that swing to be so-"

"Amazing?" His hazel eyes shone.

"I guess so." Connor found his blush returning as he went to pick up the sword again.

Wesley laid a hand on his arm, "No more. You can practice more tomorrow. You're much too tired now. You're just going to hurt yourself." Connor sighed and brought the sword back to the weapons storage closet. He placed it on the rack. Looking down at his hands he noticed the redness and slight swelling around the parts where the sword had dug into his palms. A warrior should have scars, his dad always said. Connor did not have many scars. He found himself hoping these would scar, or make his hands worn and calloused. Maybe then he'd be a good warrior; the warrior his father tried to raise. He said goodnight to Wesley that night with his eyes trained on Wesley's exposed collarbone. Wesley had his fair share of scars, but this one was different. Connor had never noticed it before. It was an old scar. The white framing the red line only made it stand out more against Wesley's complexion. Connor never asked about Wesley's scars. He never asked much about his past. His past was a touchy subject. Whatever Wesley told him was his choice. Connor would never dare to ask him about any of his scars, not the ones on his back and definably not this one. Wesley was a good warrior, and good warriors had their scars.


End file.
